A Slip, A Stumble, A Fall
by w4nder1ust
Summary: During their time on the ice, with a slip and a stumble, that's how the entire fate of Elsa, Anna and Kristoff's was changed. Warning! Character deaths. A one-shot.


**A Slip, A Stumble, A Fall**

**A/N: **A short one-shot.

I'm sure some of you have been wondering what would have happened if Anna didn't make it to save Elsa, but this is how it plays out in my head.

Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen.

* * *

_"You must learn to control it, Elsa!"_

_"What did I ever do to you?!"_

_"Fear will be your enemy, Princess."_

_"The gloves will help."_

_"M-Monster! Witchcraft! Sorcery!"_

_"Remember Elsa. Conceal, don't feel. Don't let it show."_

_"Do you wanna build a snooowman, Elsa?"_

Elsa can't control her thoughts. Her memories are all jumbled together and they flood her mind. They come as swarms and they attack her head. They are sharp, jagged memories, and it _hurts_ to remember.

How long has she been running through her storm? She feels trapped. After years and years of isolation in the kingdom, how can she still feel caged _outside_ of it?

Elsa stumbles through, trying to regain her footing against the harsh winds. Why couldn't she just control the damn storm?! She created it, so why couldn't she stop it?

She freezes as a dark shape begins to lumber towards her through the white. Her feet automatically begin to move backwards, her breath caught in her throat, but is stopped when a familiar voice calls her.

"Elsa!" Hans struggles to get closer. "You can't run away from this!"

_You can't run._ But it's what she's been doing her whole life. Running away.

Elsa squeezes her eyes shut, she knows it's time that she stopped running away. But today she can't. Especially not today.

"I _can't _stay here! So just...please..._please_ take care of my sister!" She begs him.

"Your...sister?" Hans sounds incredulous. "She returned from the mountain, weak and cold, she told me that _you_ had frozen her heart!"

Her breath catches in her throat, she can feel her pulse rapidly increasing. What little control she has left, is fading fast. She needs to get away. _Now_.

"I tried to save her," Hans explains, shaking his head. "But...it was too late."

She gasps. "N-No...that's enough! Stop!" Any more news, and she is going to explode.

"Her skin was ice..."

"STOP!" She screams, putting both her hands over her ears, the storm grows louder, and the snowflakes are turning into little shards of ice.

Hans shouts over the wind, and raises both his arms to protect himself against the fierce weather. He winces as a few shards form red marks across his face. "Her hair turned white! She slowly froze from the inside out! Your sister is dead...because of _you_!" Hans angrily shouts at her.

The raging weather calms within a second, and Hans looks around, stunned, drops of blood trickling from his scratches.

Her arms drop to her side. Elsa stares at him in shock. "..._What_?" Her voice is just barely audible.

Hans's head snaps back to look at her. And something that looks like...sympathy? is hidden behind those cold eyes.

"Anna...is dead."

She blinks. She looks down at her hands. Her hands stained with her sister's blood. _Because of you. You did this. Years and years of protecting her from _you_, have been a waste. _

The calm disappears and the weather worsens once more, and for the first time ever, her powers are actually beginning to harm her as well. The ice that is falling from the skies, is forming bright red streaks on her shoulders, her legs and her face.

"No..." Elsa stumbles backwards. _No no no no no no no no no NO_. She tried. She tried so hard to keep her safe. To keep Anna safe and alive.

"_You_ killed Anna!" Hans steps closer, "This is all your fault, Elsa!" He growls viciously.

"Please…" She gasps, her chest heaving, "stop..._please_." She knows it's her fault. She just can't stand to hear this. Hear that it was actually _her_, who killed Anna.

Oh, how she wished that this was a dream. A _nightmare_, at the very least.

Now she had no reason to live. And the realization hits her hard. The _sole_ reason, of her life, was gone. And she is gone. She is crumbling, falling, breaking, _ripping_ to pieces. She collapses on the ice, and this time, the storm falls as well.

* * *

Anna is fighting against the storm, and with each passing second, it seemed to get worse, but now it's snowing ice! As if a snow storm wasn't bad enough! A sudden wave of fear crashes into her. If the storm was getting worse...did that mean that something bad was happening to Elsa…? _Oh no oh no oh no._

The storm suddenly stops raging, and literally _freezes_ instead. Each snowflake is suspended in the air, all the details suddenly visible before the naked eye.

Anna looks around in alarm,_ it froze now?_ She didn't know if that was better than before. Then she notices a large shape from the other side of the fjord, racing towards her. It slips and stumbles for a second, then resumes running towards her.

"Kristoff..." She whispers, relief over taking her fear.

Anna trudges forward, willing her half frozen legs to take her faster. She is nearly there. He is getting closer. She can just feel the warmth from being in his arms once again, and that is enough to keep her going. Until the sound of a sword unsheathing, cuts through the silent fjord stops her. Anna turns to look to her side...and she nearly falls from the shock.

_"...Elsa?"_ Her voice is barely above a whisper.

Her sister looks broken as she is on the ground, paying no heed to the threat hovering behind her. She can see Elsa's shoulders shaking, and tears are falling from her face, turning to frozen droplets just before they hit the ice and shattering. Now she knows that the storm freezing, is definitely worse._ Much worse._

_MOVE, ELSA!_ Her mouth forms the words, but her voice is completely gone.

Could she make it in time? She turns to look at Kristoff, he is almost there...but not close enough. She doesn't even stop to think and begins to walk as fast as she can to her sister.

* * *

Anna sees Hans grip his sword tightly and slowly approach the Queen from behind, with a malicious grin on his face. She can't even remember the feeling of being in love with him anymore. _What_ was it that she had fallen in love with in the first place?

She stumbles, _FasterfasterfasterfasterfasterfasterGOFASTER_ Anna is too slow. Much too slow. And Elsa's magic in her is doing it's job too well. She can't feel anything.

Kristoff is too far…And Elsa is right there…But she can't make it. She knows she can't, because by the time she is even halfway there…red stains the pure, white snow. And it seems almost foreign to Anna, because all she's seen for the entire day, is white. Unblemished, unstained, beautiful, and innocent. This new colour is too bright against the white, too visible, it doesn't go unnoticed.

But what looks far more strange to her, is that she has just seen Hans cut her sister right across the back.

* * *

The cut is long and deep, a beautiful, red sunset begins to seep through Elsa's dress and onto the ice. Elsa does not even flinch from the sword. She doesn't even seem to register it. There is a dazed look on her face and tears are still falling from her eyes, exploding into thousands of miniscule pieces on the ice.

Then, just to be safe, Hans takes his sword and runs it straight through Elsa.

Elsa stares at the sunset on the ground,_ Anna used to love sunsets, s_he vaguely remembers.

All of a sudden, Anna is surprised by a heart-wrenching noise tearing through the silence. It sounds ragged, so torn, and so _ugly_. It takes a moment for her to realize that the noise is coming from her. Somehow erupting and ripping it's way out from her frozen throat.

_It's that stumble_ she thinks. _It was that stumble_ she knows.

Elsa is snapped out of her dazed look, and she turns to look at Anna. Her eyes widen in shock, disbelief and they fill with tears.

Time stops. Anna sees glimpses of relief, sorrow, pain, love and 13 years worth of apologies all flash by in her sister's eyes.

_We only have each other…_

This exchange between them happens for a split second, and Elsa's face is so torn. So tortured. So scared. She's not ready to leave. Now that Anna's alive, she can't leave her alone. Not again. She wants to live. She wants to live with her sister. She wants to mend the bond. She wants to make up for all the time lost, but she feels herself fading. Her consciousness is slipping. Her strength is vanishing.

_You're too selfish. Anna's alive. Isn't that enough?_ A vicious voice in her head scolds.

She _is_ selfish. But she knows that that's what being human means. To want. To continue to want. To always want _something_.

_Selfishselfishselfishselfishselfishselfish._

The darkness grows and grows until it's all she sees.

* * *

Elsa's body slumps to the ground, and the ice turns into an even darker shade of the sun.

_It's just you and me…_

* * *

Anna still hasn't gotten used to the colour.

What are we gonna do?

* * *

Anna's certain that she _hates_ sunsets now.

* * *

After what seems like an eternity, she reaches Elsa. Despite being practically frozen, she sits, ignoring the loud crack coming from her body, and cradles Elsa. She notices that her sister's body is warm. Really, _really_ warm. And it's comforting.

The ice groans beneath her, and there are small cracks appearing throughout the fjord.

But before Elsa's magic leaves the world for good, it performs one last act - it begins to turn Elsa's body into ice, preserving it.

Anna stares at her sister's body, feeling the warmth rapidly leave Elsa and the cold come creeping. She closes her eyes, and leans her forehead on her sister's.

"We'll leave together, Elsa. You and I. You won't _ever_ be alone again. I promise." She whispers.

Finally, her lips freeze, and Elsa's body is completely frozen. But she's not scared anymore. She won't be alone again.

By the time they meet again, death will be just memory, and their pain and tears will be no more. Hugs will be shared and apologies exchanged.

_...Do you wanna build a snowman?_

* * *

From across the frozen fjord, he sees it all. He started to run the moment Hans's sword caught it's target, but he knew, he _knew_ that he wouldn't make it.

_"ANNA!"_

Kristoff slows down as he nears. His breath coming out rapidly.

He grabs the man holding the sword by the throat, and throws him onto the ground,_ "Don't you _dare_ move."_ He growls fiercely. He should deal with him now - _but Anna _- He would deal with him later.

He stands in front of the two sisters. _He was so close._ He falls to his knees. _So close. _

_It was that slip_ he thinks. _That stumble on the ice_ he knows.

His throat feels raw. His head is throbbing. His fingers and toes feel frostbitten. He can't breathe properly. He is afraid to touch her. He can't even look at her. He is sorry. _So so sorry._

_Reindeer are better than people._

* * *

Hans slowly rises and massages his throat, glaring at the man who appeared out of nowhere. He still has a tight grip on his sword. His sword dripping with the sun.

The man clad in fur-lined winter clothes has his back turned on him. He is facing the Queen and Princess. His head is bowed, he is trembling.

Hans raises his sword and touches the man's back with the point.

"I would advise that you stay _down_." Hans growls.

The man tenses but doesn't move.

Hans smiles. He is getting used to power. And it's a _wonderful_ feeling.

"Who are you?"

No reply.

He presses his sword into the man's back a bit more firmly. "I said, _who are you?_"

"...An ice harvester."

"And how does _an ice harvester_, come to know the _Princess_ of Arendelle?" He pushes the tip in just a bit more.

"Who doesn't know the Princess in this kingdom? "

Hans narrows his eyes. "Does everyone around here address her as _Anna_, mountain man?"

The ice harvester stays quiet.

Hans sighs. "After that little...scene. I'm afraid I can't le-"

"Who are _you_?"

He frowns. He does not like getting interrupted. "_Prince_ Hans of the Southern Isles. But I'll soon be taking over as King of Arendelle."

That sounds so nice to hear, he muses. _King Hans of Arendelle._

A sharp intake of a breath. The man clenches his hands.

_"...Hans?"_ His voice is unsteady and trembling.

The sword digs into his back. He flinches.

"_Prince_ Hans, to you." Hans growls.

_"Hans is no stranger!"_

"True love." Kristoff spits and turns his head to look at Hans. "True love does _not_ exist."

_"Excuse _me_, sir. _He_ is a gentleman."_

"What are you talking ab-"

Kristoff spins around - Hans does not have time to react - and grabs Hans's throat once more and lifts him off the ground easily.

Hans struggles, his eyes wide, trying to pry the mountain man's fingers off.

"She _loved_ you." Kristoff tries to keep his voice steady. He tightens his grip.

There is now a knowing look in Hans's eyes.

Then there is a burning sensation in his stomach. He looks down and is surprised by the sword there. His grip loosens, Hans kicks the mountain man on his chest, frees himself, pulls the sword out, and Kristoff stumbles backwards.

"Wha-"

The second stab cuts him off. Right to his chest. Hans does it without a moment's hesitation. _When did he get so good at this? _

He sees the way the mountain man's eyes flicker over to Anna. He smirks. "I _know_ she loved me." he enjoys the pain he sees in the man's eyes.

"Please, do give my regards to the Queen and Princess." Hans smiles, watching the man _fall_.

* * *

Kristoff crumples to the ground. He reaches. He struggles. He tries to hold her hand. But it's hard to see. Everything is white. It's blinding.

_Reindeer are so much better than people._

* * *

Hans stares at the three bodies. All dyed in red. He feels _nothing_. He's gotten all that he's ever wanted now, he's finally succeeded. So why does he feel nothing?

There are small cracks beginning to form on the ice, and he knows that the Queen's powers are vanishing from this world.

Hans looks back at the bodies one last time, and at last, he feels something this time. But it's a sharp pang. It's unpleasant. And it's stabbing him in the heart.

He knows this feeling. It's a feeling he is much too familiar with. He's always been associated with it in his childhood.

He's jealous. But why would he be jealous?

And then he knows why. They have something that he's never had. Love. And each other. They have each other.

Hans scoffs, shakes his head to rid the thought of such a foolish emotion, and walks towards the castle.

* * *

The citizens look upon the fjord at the three figures. They all bow their heads in silence.

* * *

_Your future is bleak. Your kingdom will splinter. Your land shall be cursed with unending winter. With blasts of cold will come dark art, and a ruler, with a frozen heart. Then all will perish in snow and ice...unless you are freed with a sword sacrifice._

* * *

Their deaths all continuously play at the same time through Hans's head as he steps onto solid ground. But especially Anna's. _"She loved you."_ The mountain man's words ring through his head.

_"She loved you."_

_"She _loved _you."_

_"She _LOVED_ you."_

He grabs his sword from his waist and flings it into the dying ice. The voice stops.

At that moment, the ice beneath the three bodies give away, and then they are lost to the sea. But they are together. And Hans is still alone.


End file.
